Dance is my life

Truth

I turn around to see her holding my nationals trophy.

"Where did you get that?" I was sure I left it at home.

"When I came home it was sitting on the counter with a note from your mother." She hands me the note as I look at my mothers cursive writing.

Grace,

I know you might not want this with you, being as your hiding your identity, but it just doesn't feel right having it here when your not. I don't know why you left it but I just thought that maybe you would like it, to remind you of all you've accomplished and how proud we are for your sixth nationals win. We hope there are more to come!

Love you,

Mom

I look up at Brianna.

"Please explain." I nod and go to sit down on the couch. She places my trophy on the counter and sits as far away as possible from me giving me a look I never wanted to see on her face.

"Listen to the whole story before judging me please." She nods.

"I was three years old when I started dancing. I only had one class, ballet. Mom said I looked forward to it every week. As I got older I added more genres. People started taking notice of how good I was when I was five. I was dancing way above my age group, but only tried harder because I loved it. Mom put me into a special program when I was six. It helped me advance earlier and by the time I was seven I was better than most twelve year olds at my studio. I had friends at school, but since I was at the studio so often they stopped asking me to hang out and play with them like normal seven year olds do. The girls at the studio became my only friends." I pause.

"Going to competitions and winning didn't mean everything to me, I just danced because I enjoyed it, but it meant everything to my mother so I worked harder and harder until I won my first nationals at the age of nine. After that the more popular girls at school started to take notice of me being that they were dancers as well, they let me join their group. It was the biggest thing to happen at our school because they don't let new people in."

"I thought they liked me for me. I told them a lot of personal things, they were my only friends and I thought we were close. Last year when I won nationals I over heard them talking. My two best friends saying that Sasha was better than me and that I shouldn't have won. It was like a slap in the face. After that I noticed I had not friends, no one that truly liked me for me. They only talked to me about dance and how to improve their own dancing. They were using me and had been for almost eight years. They would lie to my face and talk shit about me behind my back. So I decided to move schools."

"Grace-"

"I came here with a purpose, find people that like me for me. People who wont use me and lie to my face. To change the way people look at me, not just as Grace six time national solo winner Andrews, but just Grace Mae Andrews a normal teenaged girl." Brianna is silent for a while and I bite my lip out of nervousness.

"I guess I can keep your secret." I hug her.

"Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Does anyone else know?" She asks.

"Only one other."

"Who?"

"Sasha."

"Shit."

"Yea, she told me that I have to stop trying to beat her at auditions for Helena and that I have to stay away from Justin." Brianna rolls her eyes.

"That is never going to happen."

"What do you mean?"

"Her and Justin. If it was it would have happened by now. She's known him and had a crush on him since he moved schools. But he doesn't like her like that. The only reason he danced with her was because she was the best." Brianna tells me.